Foldable bed bottom frame assembly for use in sofa beds and the like

ABSTRACT

A sofa bed comprising a hollow sofa frame, a foldable mattress support frame having a head section, a center section and a foot section that are hingedly connected together and are movable between a generally horizontal sleep position and a folded storage position within the sofa frame. The head section is longer than the other two sections to provide head and shoulder support for the user and to enable the foot section to be of cushion length when stored. The sections fold so as to position the mattress on the top in the stored position for comfort purposes and the legs which support the sections on the floor in the sleep position swing into folded position in response to folding of the frame sections.

Janko June 4, 1974 FOLDABLE BED BOTTOM FRAME ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN SOFA BEDS AND THE LIKE Inventor: George F. .lanko, Lexington, Ky.

Hoover Ball and Bearing Company, Saline, Mich.

Oct. 12, 1972 Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

U.S. Cl 5/13, 5/29, 297/105 Int. Cl A47c 17/14, A47c 13/00 Field of Search 5/12, l3, 17, 28, 29;

1 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1966 St'effan 5/13 X 3/1969 Cavalli 4/1972 Barabas Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Olsen and Stephenson [57] ABSTRACT A sofa bed comprising a hollow sofa frame, a foldable mattress support frame having a head section, a center section and a foot section that are hingedly connected together and are movable between a generally horizontal sleep position and a folded storage position within the sofa frame. The head section is longer than the other two sections to provide head and shoulder support for the user and to enable the foot section to be of cushion length when stored. The sections fold so as to position the mattress on the top in the stored position for comfort purposes and the legs which support the sections on the floor in the sleep position swing into folded position in response to folding of the frame sections 9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 4 mm SHEET 1 [1F 3 PATENTEUJUN- 41974 sum 2 or 3' awe. 4

FOLDABLE BED BOTTOM FRAIVE ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN SOFA BEDS AND THE LIKE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Dual purpose furniture, such as sofa beds, are usually objectionable on the ground that they function satisfactorily neither as a sofa nor as a bed. This objection is due in part to the fact that the bed frame sections that fold up and are stored in the sofa frame are relatively configured so that they do not provide good seating support for the sofa. Furthermore, in many sofa beds, the legs which are necessary to support the bed frame in the sleep position encumber the frame at other times. It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved sofa bed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The sofa bed of this invention consists of a hollow sofa frame having a front panel, a rear wall, and a seat back located forwardly of the rear wall. A foldable mattress support frame having a head section, a center section, and a foot section is movable between a generally horizontal sleep position and a folded storage position within the sofa frame. A mattress is located on top of the bed frame in the sleep position and when the frame is folded a portion of the mattress is automatically located on top of the frame to thereby improve the seating comfort of the sofa since the mattress provides a resilient support for the conventional sofa cushions. A pivoted link assembly supported on the sofa frame and connected to the head section provides for up and down movement in an inclined direction of the head section during movement thereof between the sleep position and the storage position.

The head section is dimensioned so that in the storage position of the frame, the head section extends the full width of the sofa and is disposed below the center section and the foot section. This allows the center section and the foot section to be dimensioned so that they are only as wide as the seat portion of the sofa. This means that the mattress and the folded support frame therefor can be unfolded and removed from a stored position within the sofa without removing the seat back of the sofa and with a minimum of effort and inconvenience.

A hinge assembly connects the head section and the center section and floor supportable legs are connected to the hinge assembly for supporting the head and center sections on the floor in the sleep position of the mattress and frame. The hinge assembly and the pivoted link assembly which supports the head section on the sofa frame cooperate to provide for folding movement of the legs in response to folding of the center section onto the head section. Similar leg assemblies support the center and foot sections and are foldable to facilitate storage.

Thus, the sofa bed of this invention, by virtue of the arrangement and proportioning of the head, center and foot sections is readily stored in the sofa frame so as to enhance the seating comfort of the sofa. In addition, the bed frame and mattress are readily moved between sleep and storage positions and in the sleep position are firmly floor supported.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description. the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an internal side view of the sofa bed of this invention showing the assembly of the hollow sofa frame with the articulated mattress support frame, and illustrating the frame in the stored position thereof;

FIGS. 2-5 are views like FIG. 1 showing the mattress support frame in progressively moved positions from stored position shown in FIG. 1 toward a sleep position in which the frame is generally horizontal; and

FIG. 6 is a view like FIG. 1 showing the frame in the sleep position.

With reference to the drawing, the sofa bed of this invention, indicated generally at 10, is illustrated in FIG. I as consisting of a hollow sofa main frame 12 having a back wall 14, a front panel 16, arms 18, and a seat back 20. Seat cushions 22 are provided for the sofa bed 10. The sofa bed also includes an articulated mattress support frame 24 which is best seen in FIG. 4 and consists of three sections, namely, a head section 26, a center section 28, and a foot section 30. The sections 26, 28 and 30 are hingedly connected together so that the frame 24 can be folded as shown in FIG. 1. A mattress 32 is supported on a wire mattress support 31 on the frame 24 so that the mattress 32 has sections 34, 36 and 38 which overlie and correspond to the frame sections 26, 28 and 30. As seen in FIG. 1, the frame sections 28 are dimensioned to fit in the horizontal space between seat back 20 and front panel 16. Frame section 26 is longer and dimensioned-to fit between back wall 14 and front panel 16.

A pivoted link assembly 40 (FIG. 2) supports the head section 26 for up and down movement in inclined directions between the storage position shown in FIG. 1 and the generally horizontal sleep position shown in FIG. 4. It is to be understood that the link assembly 40 includes links which are on opposite sides of the frame 24 and only the links on one side appear in FIG. 2 and are'described in detail hereinafter, the links in the opposite side being identical. The link assembly 40 includes a first link 42 pivotally supported at 44 on the sofa frame 12 and pivotally connected by a pivot 46 to the head section 26. The pivot 46 also connects one end of a lever member 48 to the link 42. A second link 50 is pivotally supported intermediate its ends on a pivot 52 carried by the frame 12. One end of the link 50 is connected by a pivot 54 to the head section 26 at a point longitudinally spaced from the pivot 46. The opposite end of the link 50 is connected by a coil spring unit 56 to the frame 12. The frame 24 and link assembly 40 constitute the mechanical apparatus that is mounted on the sofa frame 12 so as to make it a sofa bed. This apparatus is referred to herein as a foldable bed bottom frame assembly.

The lever 48 which forms part of the link assembly 40 is connected at its far end by a pivot 58 to a leg support bracket 60. The bracket 60 is supported on a pivot 62 carried by a hinge plate 64 in a hinge assembly 66 which connects the frame head section 26 to the center section 28. Hinge plates 64 are provided on both sides of the frame 24 for supporting center leg assemblies 68 which are likewise disposed on opposite sides of the frame 24 but only one of which is shown for convenience of illustration in the drawing. Each center leg assembly 68 includes a leg member 70 pivotally connected tov support arms 72 and 74 which are in turn supported on the pivots 62 and 76, respectively. The pivot 76 is carried by the lever 48 intermediate its ends.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the frame 24 is in its generally horizontal sleep position, the center leg assembly 68 provides floor support for the frame sections 26 and 28. In response to folding of the center section 28 onto the head section 26, preparatory to moving the frame 24 to its storage position shown in FIG. I, the pivot 62 will be moved by the hinge assembly 66, as shown in FIG. 4, to move the bracket 60 to in turn move the lever 48 so as to start the arms 72 and 74 moving in scissors fashion toward closed positions in which the leg 70 is folded against the frame section 26 as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, by the time the center section 28 has been folded against the head section 26, the leg 70 has been folded against one side of the frame section 26.

A hinge mechanism 80 also connects the frame center section 28 and the frame foot section 30 to enable the foot section 30 to be folded onto the center section 28 so that the mattress section 38 will be on top. A leg 82 is supported by the hinge mechanism 80 anis pivotally connected to an actuating arm 84 which is and is to place the leg 82 in its ground supported position shown in FIG. 6 and move the leg 82 to a folded position against the frame section 28 as shown in FIG. 4 when the frame section 30 is folded onto the frame section 28.

In the use of the sofa bed 10, assume that'the frame 24 and the mattress 32 are in the folded storage position shown in FIG. 1. In this position of these components, they are located within the hollow sofa frame 12 and the usual sofa cushion 22 is positioned so as to overlie the mattress portion 38 and the sofa front panel 16. As shown in FIG. 1., the frame 24 and the mattress 32 are stored in the lowermost portions of the frame 12. As a result, the sofa frame 12 can be dimensioned so that the top of the sofa cushion-22 is at a level which does not exceed 18 inches above the floor surface on which the sofa bed is supported. The l8 inch dimension is the accepted standard in the seating industry that allows short people to sit comfortably when a cushion is added to that dimension. Thus, the compactness of applicants sofa bed provides for increased seating comfort in a dual purpose furniture unit that is not traditionally noted for comfort.

Now assume that it is desired to convert the sofa bed 10 from the seating facility illustrated in FIG. 1 to the sleeping facility illustrated in FIG. 6. The cushion 22 is removed and the frame 24 is manually grasped and lifted upwardly to an initial position such as illustrated in FIG. 2. During such movement, the links 42 and 50 pivot about their pin supports 44 and 52, respectively, on the frame 12 and the spring assembly 56 assists movement of the link 50 so as to reduce the manual effort required. I

The links 42 and 50 insure the desired movement of the frame 24 in an inclined direction during initial upward movement of the frame 24. This movement is then continued until the frame head section 26 reaches the generally horizontal position shown in FIG. 3. When the frame section 26 reaches the horizontal position shown in FIG. 3, further upward movement is prevented by the link 50 and further forward movement is prevented by the link 42. Thus, the pivoted link assembly 40 acts to define the upper or sleep position of the frame section 26. A toggle mechanism 90 extends between the link 42 and the frame section 26 for maintaining the section 26 in a horizontal position.

The frame sections 28 and 30 are then unfolded relative to the head section 26, as shown in FIG. 4. This causes the center leg assemblies 68 to unfold. Consequently, the leg assemblies 68 will be in floor supported positions, as illustrated in FIG. 5, prior to full unfolding of the sections 28 and 30. When the sections 28 and 30 have been unfolded, the leg assemblies 82 are also floor supported as shown in FIG. 6.

In the sleep position of the frame assembly 24 shown in FIG. 6, the mattress 32 is generally horizontal, and the long head section 26 of the frame 24 provides a long unbroken support for the portion of the mattress 32 on which the sleepers head and shoulders will be supported. Thus, the frame 24 imparts improved comfort to the sleeper.

When it is desired to return the frame 24 and the mattress 32 to the storage positions illustrated in FIG. 1, the foot section 30 of the frame 24 is manually grasped and a procedure, the reverse of that described above, is followed. The spring assembly 56 yieldably opposes final movement of the frame 24 and the mattress 32 from the F IG. 2 position to the storage position shown in FIG. 1. This imparts stability to the final movement of the components. As shown in FIG. I in the storage position of the mattress 32, the portion 38 thereof is positioned between the frame 24 and the cushion 22. Thus, when the sofa bed is used for seating purposes, the mattress section 38 and the cushion 22 cooperate to provide yieldable seating comfort to the user.

From the above description it is seen that this invention provides an improved bed frame 24 for use in a sofa bed 10 or the like. The frame 24 is improved by virtue of its construction so that when folded the mattress portion 38 ends up on top of the frame. In addition, the construction of the frame 24 so that the sections 28 and 30 are of equal length corresponding substantially to the width of the sofa bed cushion 22 and the section 24 is of increased length enables the compact storage arrangement illustrated in FIG. I. This arrangement also eliminates any need for moving the sofa seat back 20 during removal of frame 24 from sofa frame 12. The construction of the center leg assemblies 68 so that they fold and unfold in response to movement of the hinge assembly 66 insures automatic folding of the leg assembly 68, as shown in FIG. 3, prior to final movement of the frame 24 into its storage position illustrated in FIG. 1.

What is claimed is:

l. A foldable bed bottom frame assembly for use in a sofa bed having a main frame, said frame assembly comprising an articulated mattress support frame having a straight head section, a center section and a foot section, a pivoted link assembly connected to said head section and adapted to be mounted on said main frame so as to support said head section for up and down movement in an inclined direction between an upper sleep position and a lower storage position, hinge means connecting said head and center sections, leg means connected to said hinge means and to said link assembly and operable to support said head and center sections in said sleep position of said head section, said link assembly being operable to move said leg means to a position folded against said head section in response to folding of said center section on top of said head section, means pivotally connecting said center and foot sections, and a foldable leg assembly connected to said center and foot sections.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further including mattress support means on said support frame, a mattress disposed on top of said support means in unfolded positions of said frame sections, said sections being foldable to positions in which said foot section is on top of said center and head sections and a portion of said mattress is on top of said foot section.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said center and foot sections are of substantially equal length and said head section is of a substantially greater length.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein a major portion of said mattress is disposed between said head and center sections in said folded positions of said sectrons.

5. A sofa bed comprising a hollow sofa frame having a front panel, a rear wall and a seat back located forwardly of said rear wall, a foldable mattress support frame having a head section, a center section and a foot section and movable between a generally horizontal sleep position and a folded position, a mattress located on top of said bed frame in said sleep position thereof, said bed frame being foldable to a position in which said center section is on top of said head section and said foot section is on top of said center section, a portion of said mattress being on top of said foot section in said folded position of the frame, a pivoted link assembly connected to and extending between said sofa frame and said head section and supporting said head section for up and down movement in an inclined direction between said sleep position and a storage position within said sofa frame, said head section being of a predetermined length slightly less than the distance between said front panel and said rear wall and said center and foot sections being of lengths less than said predetermined length and slightly less than the distance between said front panel and said seat back, said head section in said storage position being between said front panel and said rear wall with said center and foot sections and said mattress stacked on top.

6. A sofa bed according to claim 5 wherein said front panel is of predetermined height, said mattress portion on top of said foot section having the top surface thereof located substantially at said height in the storage position of said support frame and mattress.

7. A sofa bed according to claim 5 wherein said pivoted link assembly includes a pair of links pivotally connected to each side of said head section at longitudinally spaced points thereon, said links being pivotally mounted on said hollow sofa frame and disposed therein.

8. A sofa bed according to claim 7 further including hinge means connecting said head and center sections, floor supportable leg means connected to said hinge means and operable to support said head and center sections, said link assembly further including lever means pivotally connected to and extending between one of said links and said leg means for folding said leg means against said head section in response to folding of said center section about said hinge means and onto said head section.

9. A sofa bed according to claim 8 further including additional floor supportable leg means supporting said center and foot sections at the juncture thereof. 

1. A foldable bed bottom frame assembly for use in a sofa bed having a main frame, said frame assembly comprising an articulated mattress support frame having a straight head section, a center section and a foot section, a pivoted link assembly connected to said head section and adapted to be mounted on said main frame so as to support said head section for up and down movement in an inclined direction between an upper sleep position and a lower storage position, hinge means connecting said head and center sections, leg means connected to said hinge means and to said link assembly and operable to support said head and center sections in said sleep position of said head section, said link assembly being operable to move said leg means to a position folded against said head section in response to folding of said center section on top of said head section, means pivotally connecting said center and foot sections, and a foldable leg assembly connected to said center and foot sections.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further including mattress support means on said support frame, a mattress disposed on top of said support means in unfolded positions of said frame sections, said sections being foldable to positions in which said foot section is on top of said center and head sections and a portion of said mattress is on top of said foot section.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said center and foot sections are of substantially equal length and said head section is of a substantially greater length.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein a major portion of said mattress is disposed between said head and center sections in said folded positions of said sections.
 5. A sofa bed comprising a hollow sofa frame having a front panel, a rear wall and a seat back located forwardly of said rear wall, a foldable mattress support frame having a head section, a center section and a foot section and movable between a generally horizontal sleep position and a folded position, a mattress located on top of said bed frame in said sleep position thereof, said bed frame being foldable to a position in which said center section is on top of said head section and said foot section is on top of said center section, a portion of said mattress being on top of said foot section in said folded position of the frame, a pivoted link assembly connected to and extending between said sofa frame and said head section and supporting said head section for up and down movement in an inclined direction between said sleep position and a storage position within said sofa frame, said head section being of a predetermined length slightly less than the distance between said front panel and said rear wall and said center and foot sections being of lengths less than said predetermined length and slightly less than the distance between said front panel and said seat back, said head section in said storage position being between said front panel and said rear wall with said center and foot sections and said mattress stacked on top.
 6. A sofa bed according to claim 5 wherein said front panel is of predetermined height, said mattress portion on top of said foot section having the top surface thereof located substantially at said height in the storage position of said support frame and mattress.
 7. A sofa bed according to claim 5 wherein said pivoted link assembly includes a pair of links pivotally connected to each side of said head section at longitudinally spaced points thereon, said links being pivotally mounted on said hollow sofa frame and disposed therein.
 8. A sofa bed according to claim 7 further including hinge means connecting said head and center sections, floor supportable leg means connected to said hinge means and operable to support said head and center sections, said link assembly further including lever means pivotally connected to and extending between one of said links and said leg means for folding said leg means against said head section in response to folding of said center section about said hinge means and onto said head section.
 9. A sofa bed according to claim 8 further including additional floor supportable leg means supporting said center and foot sections at the juncture thereof. 